Royal Navy: Carrier Strike Group and HMS Prince of Wales sail on "biggest deployment this century" - pictures

HMS Prince of Wales is in charge of the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) and sailing towards the Mediterranean, As part of Operation Highmast, thousands of Royal Navy sailors, pilots and other personnel will be working alongside international allies during an eight-month deployment - not due to return home until Christmas. Hundreds of loved ones lined The Hot Walls in Old Portsmouth to watch the flagship leave HMNB Portsmouth last week (April 22).

Various military drills and port visits will take place in Japan, Australia and elsewhere. To get there, the UKCSG will have to head through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Currently approaching the Strait of Gibraltar, HMS Prince of Wales formed up alongside the majority of the UKCSG; an Astute-class submarine, Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond, RFA Tideforce and RFA Tidespring.

Allied forces have also joined them, with Spanish frigate ESPS Mendez Nunez, Norwegian ships HNoMS Maud and HNoMS Roald Amundsen sailing alongside the British forces. the impressive formation, which was captured by Royal Navy photographers from the air by a Wildcat of 815 Naval Air Squadron.

Between now and December, the Carrier Strike Group will conduct a series of exercises and operations with air, sea and land forces of a dozen allies in the Mediterranean, Middle East, South-east Asia, Japan and Australia. This is the second deployment of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group. The first, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2021, took place against the backdrop of a world in lockdown due to the Covid pandemic.

Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UKCSG, previously said the operation is the “biggest deployment this century” in terms of capability. “It’s a huge privilege to take the carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific”, he said. “It’s a global deployment which is international by design and encompasses 13 different nations in the strike group.

He added: “It’s about demonstrating globally our support for international order. The UK Carrier Strike Group capability is the cornerstone of the UK’s conventional deterrence. This deployment will contribute to that throughout, and plays to that secure at home and strong abroad agenda.”